


The More Things Change

by kitkatt0430



Series: Five (Long) Years [3]
Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: 5+1 Things, Barry and Roderick bond over having been in comas, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Episode Spoilers, Episode: s06e18 Pay the Piper, Five years is a long time, Fluff and Smut, Friendship, Jitters totally has a Pied Piper drink on the menu, M/M, Roderick readjusting to life post-coma, Slice of Life, Team Flash shows up at one point minus Nash, karaoke bar
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-13
Updated: 2020-05-13
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:35:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,135
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24156727
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kitkatt0430/pseuds/kitkatt0430
Summary: It takes a while to sink in, how much things can change in five years.  How different Hartley is, for all that he's still the love of Roderick's life.  How different Central City's become, for all that Roderick can't imagine living anywhere else.  How different the Flash is... now that they're not really on different sides.  (Well, okay, so Roderick is still a thief...)
Relationships: Hartley Rathaway/Roderick Smith
Series: Five (Long) Years [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1740544
Comments: 5
Kudos: 24





	The More Things Change

**Author's Note:**

> The continuing adventures of Hartley Rathaway and Roderick Smith finding balance after Pay the Piper.

(One)

"We're out of condoms," Roderick mused as he cheerfully poked around in Hartley's toy box. Vibrators - ridged and plain - anal plugs... lube... Hartley certainly had a container full of goodies for them to play with later on. But it'd been five years since they'd last made love and Roderick had wanted to fuck Hartley so thoroughly, and slowly, that they both came seeing stars. But they were both pretty firm on the 'no glove, no love' rule.

Hartley blushed and set the book he'd been reading aside. "It's not like I needed them for the toys," he pointed out. "Haven't been with anyone else since... since the last time you and I had sex."

"I wouldn't have blamed you if you had, though. Moved on. Five years... its a long time to wait for someone who might never..." Roderick trailed off uncertainly.

"I was already in love with you. I was just afraid to say the words and make it real. I was an idiot and a coward and you suffered for it." Hartley ducked his head.

Standing up and kicking the toy box back under the bed, Roderick sat beside his boyfriend. "I love you," he murmured, kissing Hartley's cheek. "And I forgive you," he kissed the other cheek.

"This is real," Hartley finished for Roderick, sealing their mouths together in a kiss. It's become a bit of a mantra between them the last few days, since Roderick woke up. That first morning after Hartley'd been half-convinced that Roderick's cure had been a dream after waking alone in bed and promptly freaked out at finding Roderick cooking breakfast. They'd had the first of many talks regarding Hartley's feelings of guilt regarding Roderick's coma. 

Well, not really a coma, but that's what they've been calling it. Easier to say and it conveyed the pertinent details.

Truth be told, Roderick's still having trouble grasping that it's 2020 not 2015. It feels like New Years day was just a couple weeks ago. When they toasted to 2015 with cheap champagne in plastic flutes and resolved to defeat Harrison Wells' pet superhero. At the same time, there's an unsettling feeling when he thinks about it. Like he'd know even without being told that their wonderful evening hadn't actually taken place any time recent.

And then there were the scars on Hartley's body that Roderick didn't remember him having. Like the one Roderick finds himself drawn to at this very moment, reaching out to run his fingers along a thin, pale scar on Hartley's upper right arm. Hartley sleeps shirtless - that, at least, hasn't changed - and that means no sleeves hiding the raised skin from view. He's wondered about it these last few days, not sure if he should ask.

But considering he's petting the spot on autopilot at the moment - and Hartley's reaction looked to be arousal, what with the dilated eyes and parted, pouting lips - Roderick figures he might as well ask. The worst that'll happen is Hartley will deflect the question.

"How... when did you get this?"

"There was this guy, Jack Robbins, embezzling funds from a charity he was running and I was stealing the money back to give to Freespace since they'd, you know, actually use the money for what it was intended for. Only I hadn't done enough research on the guy, or I'd have known he was also doing business with Amunet Black. And worse, he was cheating her too. I picked the worst night to break into Robbin's place to steal the money and the evidence of his embezzling because I'm halfway through hacking his computer when Amunet's right hand man, Norvock showed up intending to take Robbin's money for the organization. I was rather adamant it went to the charity."

"And the two of you disagreed about it violently, I take it?" Roderick asked, aiming for levity despite being utterly terrified at the thought of Hartley fighting organized crime alone. He's survived, though, and now he had Roderick to watch his back again.

"Pretty much. Norvock's a meta too, some sort of snake-like tentacle replaced one of his eyes. But for having no depth-perception he was still pretty good at throwing knives," Hartley said, putting a hand over Roderick's. "I had my gloves on me and knocked him out of the way long enough to grab my gear and go. Remind me this weekend and we'll go somewhere out of the way so I can show you how I got away with my hands full. Turns out I can sort of fly using my sonic powers." Hartley grinned slyly and Roderick kissed him abruptly, needing the reassuring slide of Hartley's lips against his.

Hartley leaned forward a little before slumping back when, breathless, Roderick finally ended the kiss. "I so regret not taking the time to get condoms from the store today," Hartley muttered, dazed.

Roderick laughed. "Did you get the money and evidence?"

"Not as much of either as I'd have liked, but Freespace got a decent sized donation and the CCPD and FBI were each sent the same anonymous information. Robbins is lucky I did that, or he'd have wound up dead. Norvock was after the money that night, but I've no doubt Amunet Black was planning to have him killed next." Hartley yawned and stretched and smirked when Roderick's eyes wandered. "Anyway, that was... almost three years ago."

Three years ago. Roderick has to bite back the knee-jerk impulse to apologize for not being there. It won't make him feel better. The only thing it'll do is make Hartley feel guilty too. So he just leans down and presses his lips to that scar. It's proof that Hartley survived some very dangerous circumstances to be here with Roderick today. And that's pretty sexy, to be honest.

Hartley whined and tugged Roderick upwards, whimpering every time Roderick paused to place another kiss upon his skin. But finally Hartley was able to capture Roderick's mouth with his own and drag Roderick's body on top of his. "You know," Hartley panted between kisses, "there's still a lot of fun to be had that we wouldn't even need condoms for."

"My boyfriend, the genius," Roderick replied with a grin and a roll of his hips.

* * *

(two)

Roderick ends up doing the grocery store run. They're out of fresh vegetables, condoms are a definite must, and the bread was moldy when Roderick checked it this morning. Also he wants his own shampoo and conditioner; he loves the possessive look on Hartley's face when he comes out of the bathroom smelling like Hartley's body wash but their hair has very different needs. The shampoo Hartley uses dries Roderick's hair out something awful. They're also running low on toothpaste and floss. Not to forget that Roderick absolutely loathes the flavor of mouthwash Hartley uses. There's mint flavored and then there is MINT FLAVORED and, wow, too much mint is just gross. And he really needs his own deodorant. 

He borrows Hartley's wallet - as long as Roderick doesn't try to buy beer he's fine (since he doesn't exactly have his own ID at the moment) and Hartley's already given him the pin for the credit cards if he gets more than the cash can cover - and bus pass, then heads to the bus stop, a couple of reusable grocery bags in hand. He figures he'll get whatever can fit into three bags at most and he'll be able to carry it all back home easily enough. Odds are he'll only need two bags, though.

At first, the grocery run goes well. Fruits and vegetables go into his cart first off, followed by the bread. He has to take a moment to remind himself that the 2020 expiration date is correct, though. Then he heads to the personal care aisles and snags the desired condoms. And some lube - Hartley's stash was looking a bit low the night before. But then Roderick found himself getting lost in the shampoo aisle. His preferred brand had completely changed packaging and the bottles looked impractical for flipping upside down when low. A pain in the ass marketing decision to make people buy more, no doubt. And then? The scent he liked best wasn't there. Not sold out, but clearly not sold at all.

"Aww man," he muttered to himself, "they must've discontinued it." Nonetheless, Roderick looked over the shelves from top to bottom to see if he was just missing the almond vanilla scent somewhere. But, no. Nowhere to be seen. Sighing, Roderick grabbed the 'unscented' version that matched his hair care needs and flipped the top open. Immediately flipped it shut. Some people might like that 'straight from the hairdresser' scent but Roderick hated it. He tried the eucalyptus mint next but that was too minty. Strawberry he skipped right over. The only one left was lavender and Roderick reluctantly put that in the basket when it proved not to be too overwhelming when he popped the top open to take a whiff. The matching conditioner went in next. If he didn't like it then he was going to have to switch brands entirely and Roderick was not looking forward to that experience at all.

It was a weird thing to feel down about, but Roderick felt like he was in a funk for the rest of the grocery run. It didn't help that his preferred deodorant brand had also changed its packaging, though at least his favorite scent was still there for that one. Then he almost missed his stop on the way home and it started to sprinkle a bit, despite the bright sunny day. 

"Hey, bae," Hartley called when Roderick came into the safe house. He was pouring over something on the table, though Roderick doubted it was plans for another heist. Might have something to do with the paintings Hartley was going to be taking to a fence, though. 

"Hey, Hart," Roderick called back and there must've been something in his voice because Hartley looked up sharply, concern written on his face.

"Everything okay?" Hartley asked, sliding off his chair and going to meet Roderick by the door, taking one of the grocery bags from Roderick and shutting the door.

"It's kind of stupid," Roderick muttered. Hartley just raised an eyebrow. "The shampoo I like got discontinued at some point. Not the brand or the hair care type, but the scent. And while I'm trying one of the other scents out... it just... I dunno. It hit me the wrong way, I guess."

"That sucks," Hartley told him, tone firm and completely non-judgmental. "And it's not stupid to be upset by that, okay?"

Something loosened a bit in Roderick's chest. Having Hartley validate his feelings didn't automatically make everything better, but it made Roderick feel less silly for being upset in the first place. This was probably going to happen a lot. Five years was a long time and Roderick was likely going to take a bit of a hit every time he encountered something else he'd liked that had changed over the years. But... it'd get easier. At least, he hoped it would.

* * *

(three)

It was weird running into the Flash at Jitters. Not that the guy was in uniform or anything. In fact, Roderick almost didn't recognize him; the day he'd woken up at STAR Labs is a bit of a blur now and he'd had eyes only for Hartley. But as Roderick retrieved his Pied Piper from the counter (a matcha green tea frappe that was so delicious; Roderick was looking forward to teasing Hartley about how good he tasted), he noticed the Flash - Barry Allen? - sitting off to the side with a cup of coffee and a pensive look on his face as he poured over a notebook in front of him.

After a momentary internalized debate, Roderick wandered over to the Flash... Allen's table. "Hi, uh... Barry, right?"

Looking up, the Flash actually grinned at Roderick. "That's right. Hi, Roderick. How are things with you and Hartley?"

"Going pretty good. It's been a bit of an adjustment for both of us, but we're working it out." Roderick smiled uncertainly and added, "I just wanted to thank you again, for helping bring me back."

"It was partially my fault you were trapped like that in the first place. And, honestly, I didn't really do all that much. Nash really did pretty much all of the work." Barry hesitated a moment, then gestured to the empty chair. "Do you want to join me?"

Roderick nodded and settled on the chair, taking a drink from his frappe to hide his nervousness. He was sitting with the Flash at Jitters like it was no big deal. But it was definitely a big deal. "So what's up with Nash, anyway. Hartley think's he's from a parallel universe, but he also said you told him he was Harrison Wells twin."

Barry grimaced. "We tell people that Nash is Wells' twin because the real answer is convoluted and messy. But Hartley's not wrong with his guess. Nash is from a different universe."

"I will leave the convoluted and messy answer alone, then," Roderick said with a laugh, knowing Hartley'd be pleased to learn he was right. Once upon a time, Hartley would've wanted the convoluted and messy answer. But time it seemed had healed Hartley's wounds where Harrison was concerned and all Hartley had cared about was they'd had a second shot at using someone on par with Harrison's intelligence to save Roderick without having to deal with the actual Harrison Wells himself. 

"I, um... I meant to offer this before, but it slipped my mind. If you want someone to talk to who knows what it's like to wake up and find the whole world's changed... I was in a coma too a few years ago. Only nine months, but it... I really wanted someone to talk to who understood what I was going through at the time, but apparently there are no support groups for coma recovery in Central City."

And just like that Barry Allen was a whole person. More than just the Flash. "I'd like that," Roderick replied, relaxing. Then he related the whole grocery shopping shampoo incident. "Hartley was supportive about it afterwards, but I'm not sure he really got what I found the most unsettling about the whole thing. Honestly I'm not even sure how to put it into words."

"You missed the part where you'd have had prior warning the discontinuation was happening and could've stocked up in advance and so instead of having the adjustment time anyone else would have had, it's just... there one week and gone the next, or feels that way," Barry filled in.

"Exactly." Roderick sighed and swirled his straw in his drink. "The world moved on without me and I'm not sure where I fit anymore. Well... I still fit with Hartley. He may not need me in the exact same way he did before, but..." he trailed off uncertainly, but once again Barry seemed to understand.

"He loves you. You always need the ones you love." Barry paused a beat, then said, "I'm a CSI and my coma happened because on the night the accelerator incident happened I was struck by lighting. Indoors. Inside my lab at work. The sort of freak accident that sounds like it should literally be impossible, right?" Barry smiled, a little self-deprecating expression. "I don't even remember being struck by the lightning, but I was so freaked out by the skylight in my lab for, like, weeks after waking up and I have a hard enough time keeping names and faces straight on a good week but there was this sudden influx of new-yet-not-really-new people I needed to remember. And my whole lab had been restocked and reorganized... I felt like a stranger going into work every day."

The Flash and a CSI? Did this guy ever get a break from work at all? "But it gets better, right?"

Barry nodded. "It got better. It takes time, which was probably the worst part of it all though."

"Can't it all just be better now?" Roderick faux whined and then laughed along with Barry.

"I tripped myself up pretty badly more than a few times trying to pretend everything was okay when it wasn't." He paused a beat, then added, "making lists helped, though. Like... lists of stuff I'd missed out on that I wanted to catch up on. Netflix shows and things like that."

"Like _The Good Place_ ," Roderick said brightly. "Hartley and I binge watched that over the last few days and it was just forking amazing."

That had Barry laughing again. "Okay, so the scene in season one where Janet keeps giving Michael a cactus every time he asks for something? That's been turned into a meme."

"Makes sense. Hartley's been keeping me off tumblr so I don't overwhelm myself with all the new memes. And spoilers. There's a Yoda baby now?"

* * *

(four)

Roderick celebrates their new apartment by making brownies with butterscotch chips baked into them. The little moaning noises Hartley makes while eating his piece has Roderick aching for the part where they tumble into bed together to initiate the new bedroom as theirs.

As nice as the safe house had been, Hartley was okay with shifting from safe house to safe house with backups but no... no place that was really home. Roderick had a strong need to nest. A place to put down roots and call home. And an oven. He was a baker, he needed a real oven. So when Hartley declared that the safe house they'd been staying at needed to be ditched before they planned a new heist because the Flash knew about it already, Roderick had voiced his need for a place to call home.

They'd gone looking at apartments the very next day.

Roderick had loved the domesticity of the apartment hunting experience. Discarding floor plans they didn't like and touring places to get a feel for what they wanted. They'd settled on a two bedroom apartment with a jack-and-jill bathroom and an open plan kitchen and living area setup, which was now full of boxes, most of which Roderick wasn't really sure where it had come from. The furniture, though... it was his old furniture. From the apartment he'd lived in when he and Hartley had first met. The couch where he'd once wrapped up a very bedraggled looking Hartley Rathaway in Roderick's favorite warm, fuzzy blanket, and placed a cup of hot chocolate into the other man's hands. His bedroom furniture is in the guest room/office while their bedroom has new furniture they'd picked out themselves after signing on the apartment. And the coffee table set is one Roderick recognizes from Hartley's old apartment.

The whole place feels like a mix of new and old and the overall effect is really comforting. Especially when Hartley led Roderick over to a box instead of their bedroom after dinner and excitedly told Roderick to open it.

So he sliced the packing tape open and... had to sit down. His cook books, momentoes from his friends and family... it's not just one box. It's a lot of boxes. He hadn't really let himself wonder where any of this was since waking up. And having it all back now... Roderick buries himself in Hartley's arms and cries. Full on sobbing for the first time since waking up.

He feels better afterwards, though. Like a weight he hadn't even realized was there had lifted from his shoulders. He's also exhausted because crying? Really takes the energy out of a person.

Not too tired for sex though, much to Hartley's pleasure.

* * *

(five)

"Oh no," Hartley groans as he realizes who is already sitting at the table Roderick is pulling him along towards. "Roderick," he whines. Actually whines and visibly pouts.

Not that it does Hartley any good, because Roderick just laughs and settles them at the table anyway. "Hey Barry," he greeted with a grin. "Hey Iris." He'd met her already after joining Barry one day to watch one of the new _Star Wars_ movies. 

Hartley tolerated the movies for Roderick's sake, but he'd never really liked the series. Something about Harrison Ford's brand of flirting being off putting. (Which, in retrospect, Hartley had a point.) Though for a non-fan Hartley certainly had strong feelings about Disney's executive meddling fucking with the plot of the sequels and screwing over both Finn/Rey fans (racism) and Finn/Poe fans (racism and homophobia).

It had been nice, though, to play catch up on the movies with a fellow fan. And Iris seemed really nice, though she'd left to go work on a story for her paper not too long after Roderick had arrived at their apartment. 

"You two have been conspiring," Hartley grumbles, scowling at a guy across the table whom Roderick is certain must be the infamous Cisco Ramon, as the guy is scowling back. The white haired woman next to him looks really amused by the whole thing, though.

"So, who wants a drink?" Barry asked, not at all helping the situation as Iris cracked up.

"Hartley, behave," Roderick teased and then stood back up enough to introduce himself to the others and shake their hands. Cisco was indeed the scowling one while his girlfriend Kamilla sat on his right and the white haired woman acting as buffer between Hartley and Cisco turned out to be Frost. As in the super hero Frost. Though when her hair changed to brown, she reintroduced herself as Caitlin Snow.

"We're two different people," Frost added when her hair shifted back. "We time share," she added, when Hartley gave her a startled look.

"That's new," Hartley observed.

"More like you've been out of the loop. I've been around the last few years." Frost looked smug.

"Yeah, but can you sing any better than Caitlin?" Hartley sniped back, though he looked rather pleased to having a verbal sparing partner. Roderick left them to it, getting pulled into a discussion about _Star Wars_ with Cisco, Barry, and Kamilla. Iris chimes in on occasion and, judging based on her smirk, she knows very well that that she's making _Star Trek_ references in a _Star Wars_ conversation. Roderick decides she and Hartley are gonna be good friends... once he and Frost get tired of their snark to snark combat, anyway.

Eventually they started taking turns singing karaoke and the night is a lot of fun. Just what Roderick and Hartley needed, a night out with friends. And if this means Team Flash is more reluctant to interfere in their heists in the future...

Well that's just good planning.

* * *

(plus one)

They're in the plush office of a CEO whose homophobic hiring practices had just been upheld in court. The class action law suit was being appealed, but Hartley and Roderick had decided the man needed to learn a little lesson in humility.

So Hartley was hacking the computer while Roderick broke into the safe. Their first heist together since Roderick woke up.

Hartley looks good in his 'Pied Piper' outfit, though the green glow of his gloves makes Roderick a little uneasy. Which is one of many reasons why Roderick is not armed with a sonic gun. Not that Hartley would have made him a new one had Roderick asked; Hartley nearly had a panic attack just discussing what happened to the original three sonic guns. Instead Roderick has a taser and a grappling gun, both of which he feels more comfortable with than he ever had with the sonic gun.

They work together as beautifully as they did five years ago, rifling through papers and emails and sending money from their target's personal bank account to an off shore account they can then disperse the funds anonymously to where ever and whomever they want. As usual, the lion's share of their haul is earmarked for LGBT+ friendly charities. And they're both quite pleased to discover not only proof of the company's corrupt hiring practices but evidence the CEO is involved in fraud.

By the time they're in a safe house, they're both grinning like loons and high on the adrenaline rush of a heist successfully completed. And they come together, horny and panting for it, as desperate and teasing as their very first time.

Roderick's breathless and reverent as Hartley pushes him down on the bed, both of them finally naked, and then proceeds to give Roderick quite the show as he fingers himself open before riding Roderick to completion. When they're laying together in the afterglow, Roderick idly traces designs along Hartley's back.

He's just... he's so glad that for all the things that have changed, how good they are together has stayed the same.


End file.
